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ger of vitiating their taste with vulgarity, or of forming their ideas of poetry upon sheer doggrel. In short, except Mrs. Dorset's happy little poem, "The Peacock at Home," we recollect nothing of the kind so well imagined or so well executed as this bagatelle. Nay, we go further, and in the teeth of even more critical and learned readers, we pronounce, ex cathedra, that of all the grammatical treatises with which we are acquainted, from the TygauMaria of Dionysius the Thracian, the Minerva of Sanctius, and the "Enea Пrigóra of Horne Tooke, down to Mr. Jones's Greek and Latin Grammars upon Philosophical Principles! we have found none superior to "Sir Hornbook" in amusement, and but few, we verily believe, in utility. We know not who is the author of this ingenious trifle, and we certainly do not mean to insinuate that it is either Lord Byron or Walter Scott, when we remark, that as in the title there is an evident allusion to the Childe Harold of the former, so there is a pleasant enough imitation of the latter in the conduct of the subject and versification.

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Childe Launcelot, setting out on his expedition to the Muses' Bower, arrives at Sir Hornbook's gate, and blows the horn that hangs there. Thereat

"The inner portals opened wide,
And forward strode the chief,
Arrayed in paper-helmet's pride,
And arms of golden leaf."

On "the Childe's" soliciting his aid:

"If Emulation sent thee here,'
Sir Hornbook quick replied,
'My merrymen all shall soon appear,
To aid thy cause with shield and spear,
And I will head thy bold career,
And prove thy faithful guide."

These merry men are thus described:

"Full six-and-twenty men were they,
In line of battle spread;.

The first that came was mighty A,
The last was little z."

With the aid of Sir Hornbook and these his merry men, Childe Launcelot proceeds and conquers successively Sir Article and his brother; the stout knight Sir Substantive, with Adjective, his, lady bright, and his Lieutenant Pronoun; the old Sir Verb, and his General Infinitive and Imperative, who commands his squad

ron, with all the host of auxiliaries, derivatives, and adjuncts; in short, he masters all the parts of speech, one after another, in the form of knights, till he arrives where

"Sir Syntax dwelt in thick fir grove,
All strewn with scraps of flowers,
Which he had plucked to please his love
Among the Muse's Bowers.

His Love was gentle Prosody,

More fair than morning beam,
Who lived beneath a flowering tree,

Beside a falling stream.

And these two claimed, with high pretence,

The whole Parnassian ground,

Albeit some little difference

Between their taste was found;
Sir Syntax he was all for sense,
And Prosody for sound."

But it is time to relieve our graver readers from our extracts and commendations of this nursery epic, and to express our wish, that half the epics which have been lately written could boast the same spirit and ingenuity in their composition.

ORIGINAL.

PORTER'S JOURNAL.

We have been favoured with a copy of part of Captain Porter's journal of his late ad venturous and gallant cruise. Those who have hitherto admired him only as the hero of Valparaiso, will doubtless be pleased to see our American Anson in another character; like Cooke observing and describing the manners and habits of newly discovered savages. After describing the appearance and situation of the bay and harbour of Nooaheevah, or Madison's Island, and having fortunately obtained an interpreter, in an Englishman of the name of Wilson, who had been long resident in this group of islands, he thus proceeds:]

ON jumping on shore, unaccompanied by any other persons, and walking up to a group of the natives, all their apprehensions seemed to cease; the women, who had retired to a distance, came down to join the male natives, and even the landing of the marines, as well as the rest of the party; did not seem to occasion any uneasiness among them. The drum appeared to give them much pleasure, and the regular movements of the marines occasioned great astonishment; they said they were spirits, or beings of a superior class to other men. I directed them to be put through their exercise, and the firing of the muskets occasioned but little terror, except among the women, who generally turned away their faces, covering their ears with their hands. The men and boys were all attention to the skipping of the balls in the water; but at every fire, all habitually inclined their bodies, as if to avoid the shot, although behind the men who were firing. After remaining a short time with them, I distributed among them some knives, fish hooks, &c. &c. which they received with much apparent pleasure, but no one offered, like the natives of the other islands, any thing in return.

Observing the mountains surrounding the valley to be covered with numerous groups of natives, I inquired the cause, and was VOL IV. New Series

37

informed that a warlike tribe, residing beyond the mountains, had been for several weeks at war with the natives of the valley, into which they had made several incursions, and had destroyed many houses and plantations, and had killed, by cutting around the bark, a great number of bread-fruit trees. I was also informed that they had intended paying another visit that day, but it was supposed they had been deterred by the appearance of the ships. I inquired if it were possible to get a message to them, and was informed that notwithstanding they were at war, and showed no quarter to each other, there were certain persons of both tribes who were permitted to pass and repass freely and uninterrupted from one tribe to another, such for example, as a man belonging to one tribe who had married a woman belonging to another. I inquired if any such were present, and one being pointed out to me, I directed him to proceed to the Happahs, and to tell them I had come with a force sufficiently strong to drive them from the island, and if they presumed to enter into the valley while I remained there, I should send a body of men to chastise them-to tell them to cease all hostilities as long as I remained among them; that if they had hogs or fruit to dispose of, they might come and trade freely with us, as I should not permit the natives of the valley to injure or molest them. To the natives of the valley (who listened attentively, and with apparent pleasure, to the message sent to the Happahs) I then addressed myself, and assured them that I had come with the most friendly disposition, that I wanted nothing from them but what I paid for, that they must look upon us as brethren, and that I should protect them against the Happahs, should they again venture to descend from the mountains. I directed them to leave at home their spears, slings, and clubs, (their only weapons of war, in order that we might know them from the Happahs,) and told them I should consider all as my enemies who should appear armed in my presence, assuring them at the same time, that there would be no necessity for their using those weapons, as I had not only the will and power to give them the most ample protection, but to chastise severely their enemies, unless they were governed by the advice I had given them; all listened with much attention, their spears and clubs were thrown on one side, and when I wish

ed to assemble my officers and men to return on board, I perceived that they had formed, with the female part of the community, an intimacy much closer than that which brotherly relationship gave them a title to.

The detachment of marines had remained with me; all, no doubt, saw me on my guard against any attacks of the natives, and the probability of my remaining so, perhaps, made them perfectly easy as to their safety.

Description of Gattaneuah's granddaughter.

While I was using measures to get together my officers and men, my attention was drawn to an object which at the moment here presented itself. A handsome young woman of about 18 years of age, her complexion fairer than common, her carriage majestic, and her dress better, and somewhat different from the other females, approached; her glossy black hair and her skin were highly anointed with the cocoa nut oil, and her whole personal appearance neat, sleek, and comely. On inquiry who this dignified personage might be, I was informed that her name was Piteeme, a granddaughter to the chief or greatest man in the valley, whose name was Gattaneuah. This lady, on whose countenance was not to be perceived any of those playful smiles which enlivened the countenances of the others, I was informed was held in great estimation, on account of her rank and beauty, and I felt that it would be necessary, from motives of policy, to pay some attentions to a personage so exalted. She received my advances with a coldness and hauteur, which would have suited a princess, and repulsed every thing like familiarity, with a sternness that astonished

me.

Gattaneuah's Village on the Mountain.

Gattaneuah, I was informed, at the time of my landing, was at a fortified village, which was pointed out to me, on the top of one of the highest mountains; they have two of these strong places in this valley-one on the top of the aforesaid mountain, the other lower down the valley, and guarding one of the principal passes. The manner of fortifying these places is to plant closely on end,

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